Landscaping/Weed Fabric

Hi All.
Come summer I will be be putting down some landscaping or weed control fabric what ever real name it goes by.As normal I start to do research well in advance so come the job I have some idea what to buy and how to do the job.As per usual I end end total confused.
There seems to be many brands of L/scaping fabric for sale and some are just not worth buying.From what I have read the cheaper fabric may last 2-5 years which means laying some fresh down.The sites (mostly USA) I have been on suggest using a professional grade fabric which will last a whole lot longer.
They also say the fabric will not stop 100% weeds coming through as even concrete will not stop them but will do a darn good job.It is not the fabric which stops the weeds but the gravel/mulch on top of fabric.

Any way besides all the techie stuff has anyone purchased some quality fabric and if so can you pass on the brand.Seems worth spending the extra for the better quality fabric.One name that comes up is DuPont which they say is "pro" but I suppose they all will say there fabric is best.

 

I go by the "thickness" usually publicised as GSM and I have bought 70GSM. Higher numbers are thicker. You may also want to consider how much UV Stabiliser they contain, but it is generally better to cover them with bark, or gravel etc., which keeps the sunlight off - that helps reduce the light getting to any potential weeds, and also the UV reaching the fabric.

I got my most recent batch off "The Original Groundforce Gardening" on Amazon.CO.UK Marketplace. Their shipping was a bit chaotic, but they said they were in the middle of some warehouse move or something, but the goods got here in the end, and I thought they were good value (1.5M wide x 200M long including 1,000 pegs for about £85 I think)

 

Mine is under hedges. We'd never get around to keeping them weed free otherwise. Also use it for new "virgin" herbaceous borders as again we wouldn't manage to keep them weed free in the first year or two. But other than that its a bit "parks & gardens" to have weed-fabric covered with bark-mulch I reckon!

 

Trogre. A little background to add to your research. Any fabric will do the job. There never was a fabric designed just to suppress weeds. The origins go back to ICI's research labs in South Wales in the early 1960's. What they did was to produce a fabric by a novel method that didn't involve weaving or knitting, but by the direct spraying of man made fibres onto a conveyor and then bonding it by partially melting parts, which stuck it together. Because it was made so fast, it was very cheap. But they didn't know what to do with it. Like the laser, that had been invented around the same time, it was a solution looking for a problem. They made it in various thicknesses and in various ways and tried using it for carpets, to replace jute carpet backing, upholstery fabric, overcoats, disposable knickers, and many other things - some was even used to make 'real tennis' balls. The breakthrough came when the 140 gsm product that had failed as carpet backing was sold under the name Terram for use as a geotextile.

Terram was originally sold to go under motorways. By laying a fabric and then putting hardcore on top, they only needed half the quantity of hard core compared with having no fabric. The hardcore was held in place and couldn't sink through the fabric. The principle was invented by the Romans who used brushwood as a base for roads built over boggy ground. But it was a totally new market for textiles, which was then extended to airports, dams and all sorts of other applications like weed suppressant fabric, using a lighterweight material.

Any fabric will do the same job - even polythene sheet. The benefit of Terram was that it was cheap, didn't rot, but did stretch. As you pointed out, part of the weed suppressing feature is due to the density of the fabric and part is due to the gravel on top. The fabric allows water to drain through, but doesn't allow the gravel to sink into the mud over time.

I don't see any point in buying heavier weight material, unless you are building a motorway. Even very light material will work well as long as there is a layer of something on top. Although all these textiles have anti degradents added, if they are exposed to the sun they will all eventually rot. So you need a layer of bark or gravel on top.

But here is your problem. Air borne soil will get into the gravel and build up as the fabric will prevent it from being washed through. So eventually you will get a layer of soil and gravel on top of the fabric - which is what weeds like to grow in. So really the concept of a long term weed suppressant fabric system is a bit of a myth.

But I use it and it works well for paths where the act of walking tends to exclude weeds from growing.

 

PeterS your are a fount of knowledge!

I think there may be a case for using a heavier weight fabric because the really lightweight ones will have a tendency to rip, to beyond that I don't see any point - for the reasons that as you describe

 

I was part of the team that developed those fabrics - so its not something I would forget. :D

 

From my experience there are different types and strengths of weed control fabric. It all depend what you use it for (to use under a drive or pathway, or just underneath flower bedding). I found that if it is for anywhere that you are going to be walking over then you will need to purchase the heavy duty fabric (100 grams per square metre) or if it is just for flower beds then the light fabric should do the job (50gsm). When building my gravel pathway I purchased some 100gsm weed control fabric here http://www.qvsshop.co.uk//weed-control-fabric-63-c.asp quick delivery and was just the right stuff!

 

If you want to buy from QVS may be cheaper on eBay. The couple I checked were 10% off on eBay. Other suppliers on eBay to compare against of course

QVS store on eBay:
http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/qvsonlineuk?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

 

Well spotted Kristen!!!

 

I have a problem and looking for advice please, next door have a leylandii ? hedge about 8ft high next to my garden, which is about 50 ft long, the trouble is when my neighbour comes round to trim it, it means he has to walk on my garden to do it , so I feel it is hardly worth growing anything there, so if I take out the shrubs and plants that are there what would be best to do, turf it or put down bark and have pots along there. any ideas as to the cost for these.grateful for any help.

 

I don't like the widespread use of these landscape fabric mulches. They look awful in flower beds, make moving plants difficult and deny access to the soil from birds, air etc. these mulches have their uses in pathways and certain gravel gardens but they really are environmentally and aesthetically unpleasant.

 

It depends what you use. I dont like the fabric but mulches them selves are a great idea. bark mulch will rot down into the soil and also keep the weeds down and moisture in. Birds etc can eat the bugs etc that will live in the bark.

 

Living organic mulches are very important but it gives wrong impression to call these fabric sheets "mulches". For paths yes. For borders no